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Posts Tagged ‘Berbatov’

I’m a Spurs fan and a big admirer of creative, flamboyant players such as Berbatov. They are my favourite type of player, as everything just seems so effortless. It’s very sad to see a player who showed such invention and expression at Spurs not even seem like the same player at Manchester United.

I also find it very lazy and idiotic that the press and United fans repeatedly slam Berbatov for his lack of drive and sustained performances. Although last season he had a very similar goals/assists to Rooney’s. This season I believe Berbatov is a prisoner of Rooney’s shift into United’s starring role following Ronaldo’s departure

I would argue Berbatov has already proved under the right circumstances that he can and will perform within the Premiership at a lesser team than United so his talent is unquestionable. He not only scored 20+ a season but created openings and consistenty assisted for his team mates and was Spur’s main attacking outlet instigating most of their penetrating offensive plays.

Whenever I watch United play it is so apparent the team look to Rooney whenever possible Berbatov isn’t even an option, also compounding that fact is at Spurs Berbatov was the playmaker, the main man, everything went through him, he came deep to receive the ball and dictated things, often not arriving in the box until late, most of his destructive play was done outside the area, he was free to do as he wished.

Whereas at United he is on a leash in many regards as he’s no longer the showmaster, his team-mates understandably don’t hold him on a pedestal and he is expected to stay upfront and play his back to goal, even though all those factors are clearly not making the best use of his attributes.

I would loosely compare it to having someone like Bergkamp, Cantona or Zola in your team and telling them to stay upfront and not get involved in the build-up play. Completely wasting their creative talents.

I totally understand why Rooney is the star man and everything goes through him at United but with that Berbatov’s talents are going to waste and are not going to come to the fore.